We just got a 10 wk old shih-poo puppy who is adorable. I grew up with dogs (several puppies) so I understand the amount of time that they take. The problem is that this puppy in particular demands so much attention. We are crate training and that is working great as far as house training because as of yet, she hasn’t had an accident in her crate. We also have a play-pen for when she can’t be directly supervised and that’s where the problems are… she hates the play-pen, even though it has every toy she’d be playing with if she was "free" (including a kong filled with treats and peanut butter that she loves otherwise) and when she’s in there she cries and jumps up against it, before finally settling down and laying on the blanket. I’d like her to be able to actually play in there!

I am completely exhausted with her because she never seems to be able to just play by herself, unless she has the run of the house, and I can’t supervise her all day running around the house, just not realistic. I am doing everything I know how to do–when she is crated at night, I set my alarm and get up every 3-4 hrs so that I can let her out so she won’t have an accident in the crate. This, in addition to the fact that I have to give her constant attention throughout the day or else she cries in her play-pen is really wearing me out. My husband is active duty military and was just sent on a temporary assignment for a few months and to top it off, I just found out that I am 6 wks pregnant. If anyone has any tips on how we can get through this puppy phase as peacefully as possible, that would be great… thanks.

6 Responses to “Exhausted puppy owner–tips highly sought?”

harmonic I was always afraid of going to a friend of my husband because he had a big dog. The dog didn’t mind and scared me. I finally told my husband that I want going anymore unless they put the dog up they didn’t so quit going. after 2 month John my husband wanted me to go again he told me don’t worry the dog is different now so I went John was right the dog actually listened and was pleasant. I ask what he did to get his dog to change and he told me he had been recommended from his friend a course he got off the inter-net. I saw the big differ that it made so I would recommend checking it out.

Find a room (kitchen is usually good) that you can gate off without actually penning her. Do not give her free unsupervised run of the house as that will lead to accidents, and it sounds like you’re doing good so far. Once you put her in her room, you need to just ignore the whines. She’s learning quickly that the more she whines, the more you’ll pay attention to her. Our puppy screamed through his first 2 nights, and because we ignored him (after making sure all his needs had been met prior to bedtime), by the third night he slept peacefully all night long. You need to teach her independence. Whether in her crate or in her "room", set a timer just like you do for potty breaks and don’t respond to her during that time. Get your chores done, watch TV, do whatever you need to do, and come back to her when the time is up. She will learn. You may also want to consider crating her in a quiet dark room for "nap times" several times during the day- overexhausted puppies are just like tired babies, they cry! She may just not know how to put herself to bed yet, and you can help by giving her scheduled times to go to sleep and relax.

Hey! My parents just bought me and 8 week old mini dachshund 2 months ago. I know, they puppy phase is exhuasting, just keep up with what you are doing. My puppy also HATED the play pen we bought, so we bought a LARGE wire crate and put his toys in there when we can’t supervise him. It’s not his nightime crate, but just for the day when nobody can watch him. Another thing you need to do, is NOT give her attention when she whines. This is teaching her to whine to get what she wants. As soon as she stops, then you can play with her. If you are training her to go outside (which is highly recommended) it’s all about schedule. Dogs have a gastric-colon reflex, which means 10 minutes after they eat, they need to eliminate. Use this to your advantage. As soon as she is finished eating, bring her outside. Wait outside there with a bag of treats (i feed lean-treats, which can only be purchased through my vet) as soon as she goes, praise her and treat her. It is important not to play with her unless she eliminates. The Kong is a good idea, but it should only be given 1-2x a week as a treat, so it is rare. Never put your puppy in the crate and then leave, because then they associate the crate with you leaving. leave her in the crate for a while and THEN leave. Along the lines of playing with herself, if others say get another dog, PLEASE do NOT listen to them. They have no idea what they are talking about. Exercie is KEY. take her for a walk every day, get her used to grooming, and play fetch for a couple minutes a day, do everyhting possible to tire her out. A tired puppy is a good puppy!

Why would you have to supervise her all day if she is running around the house? Let her run around, she will never get tired out being in a cage all of the time. Dogs are not meant to be caged up. You do not have to get up every 3 or 4 hours to let her out either, no one does this. Relax and let her be a puppy.

My advice would be to forget about the play-pen, especially if she’s not taking to it. Work between free time around the house and her crate. Bring her crate into the living room, with the top and three sides covered and leave the door open, with her bed and toys in there. When you are around to supervise leave the crate door open, and let her run around – okay restrict her to one room, where the crate is plus maybe the room your back door/house exit is because she needs to learn to go there when she needs to go out. Obviously that’s not going to happen just yet however. When you have to do things and can’t supervise her, crate her and shut the door. Try to time your needing to do other things to after a period of play with her, so she’s tired and ready for a nap. The play pen is giving her too much freedom, but yet not enough …. if you see what I mean. Confining her should only be to her crate which should be her little safe den – a play pen won’t offer her that security.

At night, you should only really need to get her out once, twice at the most, at 10 weeks. If her last meal of the day is given around 9 pm, if she’s still on 4 meals a day (otherwise it would be given around 5 pm) that should be plenty of time for her to empty last thing, before she goes into her crate. Set your alarm for around 3 – 3.30 to get her out, and try to anticipate her waking to ask so she doesn’t associate sounding off, to you responding. That honestly should be enough during the night because she’s sleeping, and not eating!! It’s only during the day when she’s moving around, playing, and feeding, that she needs getting out every hour, for now, extending to longer as she matures. If she has an accident in the crate – so be it. At least it’s not all over the room!

Timing, re your pregnancy + new puppy, isn’t ideal is it (congratulations on the pregnancy however), and your hormones are bound to be all over the place!! Try, if you can, to chill. I know all about getting stressed out over puppy-duty! It’s very tiring and there were times with my most recent two, a year apart, when I seriously questioned what I’d done!! The good news is it really doesn’t last and at 10 weeks already, she’ll soon be out of this new puppy stage. Can you get a friend or relative in to take over for a few hours, so you can get some serious sleep-catch-up time?

Ignore her. When she jumps and barks- ignore her. When she is quietly lying on the blanket, praise her. She will get used to it. Puppies don’t need to play every minute (you will find out soon that babies dont either lol) so let her just be. If you attempt to entertain her every minute it will only increase her neediness.